,
Caucasian,
Afroasiatic (Hamito-Semitic) and
Indo-European families. The major families in terms of numbers are
Indo-European, specifically
Indo-Aryan languages and
Dravidian languages in
South Asia,
Iranian languages in parts of
West,
Central, and
South Asia, and
Sino-Tibetan in
East Asia. Several other families are regionally dominant.
Sino-Tibetan Sino-Tibetan includes
Chinese,
Tibetan,
Burmese,
Karen,
Boro and numerous languages of the Tibetan Plateau, Southern China, Myanmar, and North East India.
Indo-European The
Indo-European languages are primarily represented in Asia by the
Indo-Iranian branch, with its two main subgroups:
Indo-Aryan and
Iranian.
Indo-Aryan Indo-Aryan languages are mainly spoken in the
Indian subcontinent, across different modern-day
South Asian countries. Examples include languages such as
Hindustani (Hindi-Urdu),
Bengali,
Bhojpuri,
Punjabi,
Marathi,
Rajasthani,
Gujarati,
Sylheti,
Noakhali etc. 50 million speakers-->
Iranic Iranic languages are mainly spoken in and around the
Iranian Plateau, spread across the modern-day countries of
Iran,
Afghanistan,
Tajikistan, and
Pakistan and neighboring regions. Examples include languages like
Persian,
Kurdish,
Pashto and
Balochi.
Others Other branches of Indo-European spoken in Asia include the
Slavic branch (due to Asia's proximity to
Eastern Europe), which includes
Russian in
Siberia (since it falls under the
Russian Federation);
Greek around the
Black Sea; and
Armenian in
Armenia; as well as extinct languages such as
Hittite of Anatolia and
Tocharian of (Chinese) Turkestan.
Altaic families A number of smaller, but important and separately distinguished language families spread across central and northern Asia have long been linked in a hypothetical, controversial and unproven Altaic family. These are the
Turkic,
Mongolic,
Tungusic (including
Manchu),
Koreanic, and
Japonic languages. But since the mid-20th century a majority of scholars have come to regard it as a
Sprachbund.
Austroasiatic The Mon–Khmer languages (also known as Austroasiatic) are the language family in South and Southeast Asia. Languages given official status are
Vietnamese and
Khmer (Cambodian).
Kra–Dai The
Kra–Dai languages (also known as Tai-Kadai) are found in southern China, Northeast India and Southeast Asia. Languages given official status are
Thai (Siamese) and
Lao.
Austronesian The
Austronesian languages are widespread throughout
Maritime Southeast Asia, including major languages such as
Indonesian (
Indonesia and
Timor-Leste),
Fijian (
Fiji),
Hiligaynon,
Bikol,
Ilocano,
Cebuano,
Tagalog (
Philippines), and
Malay (
Brunei,
Malaysia, and
Singapore). Other significant Austronesian languages in Indonesia include
Javanese,
Sundanese, and
Madurese. Meanwhile, Indonesian is the most widely spoken language in the Austronesian family.
Dravidian The Dravidian languages of
South India and parts of
Sri Lanka include
Tamil,
Telugu,
Kannada,
Malayalam and
Tulu, while smaller languages such as
Gondi and
Brahui are spoken in central India and Pakistan respectively.
Afro-Asiatic The
Afroasiatic languages (in older sources Hamito-Semitic) are represented in Asia by the
Semitic branch. Semitic languages are spoken in
Western Asia, and include the various dialects of
Arabic and
Aramaic,
Modern Hebrew, and
Modern South Arabian languages in addition to extinct languages such as
Akkadian and
Ancient South Arabian.
Siberian families Besides the Altaic families already mentioned (of which
Tungusic is today a minor family of Siberia), there are a number of small language families and isolates spoken across northern Asia. These include the
Uralic languages of western Siberia (better known for Hungarian and Finnish in Europe), the
Yeniseian languages (
linked to Turkic and to the Athabaskan languages of North America),
Yukaghir,
Nivkh of Sakhalin,
Ainu of northern Japan,
Chukotko-Kamchatkan in easternmost Siberia, and—just barely—
Eskimo–Aleut. Some linguists have noted that the
Koreanic languages share more similarities with the
Paleosiberian languages than with the
Altaic languages. The extinct
Rouran language of Mongolia is unclassified, and does not show genetic relationships with any other known language family.
Caucasian families Three small families are spoken in the
Caucasus:
Kartvelian languages, such as
Georgian;
Northeast Caucasian (Dagestanian languages), such as
Chechen; and
Northwest Caucasian, such as
Circassian. The latter two may be related to each other. The extinct
Hurro-Urartian languages may be related as well.
Small families of Asia Although dominated by major languages and families, there are number of minor families and isolates in
South Asia and
Southeast Asia. From west to east, these include: •
Hattic, an unclassified language in Anatolia. • extinct languages of the
Fertile Crescent such as
Sumerian and
Elamite. • extinct languages of South Asia; mainly the unclassified
Harappan language • small language families and isolates of the
Indian subcontinent:
Burushaski,
Kusunda, and
Nihali. The
Vedda language of
Sri Lanka is likely an isolate that has mixed with
Sinhala. • the two
Andamanese language families:
Great Andamanese and
Ongan;
Sentinelese remains undocumented to date, and hence unclassified. • unclassified languages in Southeast Asia:
Kenaboi. • the difficult to classify
Arunachal languages:
Digaro,
Hrusish (including the
Miji languages),
Midzu,
Puroik,
Siangic, and
Kho-Bwa. •
Hmong–Mien (Miao–Yao) scattered across southern China and Southeast Asia • a few "
Papuan" (Non-Austronesian) families of the central and eastern Malay Archipelago: such as the
Timor-Alor-Pantar and
North Halmahera languages, and the little known extinct
Tambora language of
Sumbawa. Numerous additional families are spoken in Indonesian
New Guinea, which is generally considered to part of
Oceania.
Creoles and pidgins The eponymous
pidgin ("business") language developed with European trade in China. Of the many creoles to have developed, the most spoken today are
Chavacano, a
Spanish-based creole of the Philippines, and various
Malay-based creoles such as
Manado Malay influenced by
Portuguese. A very well-known Portuguese-based creole is the
Kristang, which is spoken in
Malacca, a city-state in
Malaysia.
Sign languages A number of sign languages are spoken throughout Asia. These include the
Japanese Sign Language family,
Chinese Sign Language,
Indo-Pakistani Sign Language,
Filipino Sign Language as well as a number of small indigenous sign languages of countries such as
Nepal,
Thailand, and
Vietnam. Many official sign languages are part of the
French Sign Language family. ==Official languages==